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Missing a prebooked train due to late arrival of previous train? With no ticket for previous train

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NorEast

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Passenger is considering booking an advance single for a specific train from Scotland to England. She gets free travel in Scotland die to disability, without needing to buy a ticket, so would only need a ticket for travel in England. However, if her first train journey in Scotland (which she wouldn't need a ticket for) is late, she'd miss the train she'd pre-booked onto. Would she be entitled to get the next train, or does it just depend on staff discretion?

There's only about £20 difference in price between a flexible and non-flexible fare, so if there's much risk of hassle she can just book the more flexible fare.
 
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_toommm_

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I would think so. The difficulty would be in convincing some of the unruly onboard staff of the entitlement. Is the free travel done through a pass, as that would make it a lot easier. You would still need to leave the minimum connection time at the changing station though.
 

jfollows

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I agree with @_toommm_ , you don’t need a formal itinerary but you need to observe the minimum connection time at the intermediate station, see https://www.brtimes.com/

If the first train is late then the passenger is entitled to catch the next train operated by the same company as the advance single. In case of hassle, pay up and claim it back later, although it shouldn’t come to that.
 

robbeech

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Generally speaking a valid ticket includes any ticket, pass or other form of permission to travel. As the passenger is allowed to travel on the first service there should be no issues here. If they have a physical (or electronic) pass or permit to travel for it it should makes things much easier to explain. It surely can’t be the first time staff have had to acknowledge this so I wouldn’t worry too much.
 

NorEast

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Great - thanks! She'll travel with assistance booked and has an Entitlement Card to show that she can travel for free in Scotland - so will easily be able to show her planned journey. Hopefully that'll convince any staff!

She might bid for an upgrade via Seatfrog. Will that be lost if she misses the planned train? Less of a big deal, either way.

Connection is within Minimum Connection Time, but if the first train was 20m late she might miss the second
 

Buzby

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She gets free travel in Scotland die to disability, without needing to buy a ticket,
Can you confirm you mean the NEC - Card? Only bus travel is free within Scotland - rail has never been free but there is a sliding scale offered by certain Council areas. Which one issued the card? West Lothian opted out of the scheme last year for train use.
 

NorEast

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Thanks. She benefits from the Scottish National Blind Persons Scheme. Her NEC is what she uses as evidence of this when travelling, and will usually open train barriers etc

 

yorkie

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Great - thanks! She'll travel with assistance booked and has an Entitlement Card to show that she can travel for free in Scotland - so will easily be able to show her planned journey. Hopefully that'll convince any staff!

She might bid for an upgrade via Seatfrog. Will that be lost if she misses the planned train? Less of a big deal, either way.

Connection is within Minimum Connection Time, but if the first train was 20m late she might miss the second
Providing it's a valid itinerary, then any tickets/upgrades purchased are valid on the next available connections (subject to any relevant operator restrictions, as appropriate/applicable).
 

NorEast

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Thanks! And presumably similar will apply to me if I end up traveling on a split ticket, with a connection to make between the first ticket and the second? I'll be able to get a later train, despite having an advance single, if I miss my connection due to the late arrival of the first train?
 

Watershed

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Thanks! And presumably similar will apply to me if I end up traveling on a split ticket, with a connection to make between the first ticket and the second? I'll be able to get a later train, despite having an advance single, if I miss my connection due to the late arrival of the first train?
Yes, that's correct. Split tickets still count as one journey provided you meet the conditions for splitting (i.e. stopping at the station(s) where you change tickets, and allowing the minimum interchange time at any station where you change trains).
 

NorEast

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Thanks again - we'll get tickets booked. Appreciate the help! Looks like by buying advance singles we should be able to travel in 1st for not much more than standard class would have been
 

yorkie

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Thanks! And presumably similar will apply to me if I end up traveling on a split ticket, with a connection to make between the first ticket and the second? I'll be able to get a later train, despite having an advance single, if I miss my connection due to the late arrival of the first train?
Absolutely entitled to, yes

However, to reduce the possibility of arguments I would always suggest booking it as a through journey if possible. If you book it through us, we will back you up in the event of a dispute.

Disputes are most likely to occur in the event of one of the trains being pre-cancelled (deleted from the timetable) or retimed. Evidence of the through itinerary should be obtained and documented at the time of booking.

Another reason to book it as a through journey is that if you change your mind, only one admin fee applies for the whole booking (if booked through us). Some retailers charge on the basis of per ticket. Booking each leg through a separate retailer can cause all sorts of problems if disruption occurs on one leg and not the other and you choose not to travel.

If your arrival time is important to you, or if having booked seats is important to you, the. You may wish to specify additional interchange time, to reduce the chance of missing the connection. If you are travelling in first, then depending on the itinerary, you may be able to spend some time in the lounge if all goes to plan.

Booking it as a through itinerary doesn't enhance your contractual rights but it can massively reduce the potential for hassle, when things don't go quite to plan.

Most rail staff wont quibble but sadly there is a minority that give people grief over split tickets.
 

Snow1964

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One thing to be aware of, is if booking assistance, then if there is a delay and you miss connecting train, it is not uncommon for assistance to then fall apart.

Its rather hit and miss if staff work out what is happening and formally rebook the assistance to later train, and even if they do, it is not unheard of for no one to be reallocated to meet at disembarking station.
 

NorEast

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Thanks. Yeah - a couple of people I know have experienced assistance falling apart. Not good when it happens, but there's not really a better alternative :(

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Thanks @yorkie. I'd normally book a through ticket, but the saving was too tempting here. Will try to leave more time for the connection
 

yorkie

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Thanks. Yeah - a couple of people I know have experienced assistance falling apart. Not good when it happens, but there's not really a better alternative :(

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

Thanks @yorkie. I'd normally book a through ticket, but the saving was too tempting here. Will try to leave more time for the connection
Sorry I wasn't clear; I didn't mean a through ticket. I just meant a through booking!

Our ticketing site should automatically identify where there is a saving to be made; if you - or anyone else reading this - does your own research elsewhere and finds we do not offer the cheapest combination of tickets, we can get this changed so that we do identify the optimal splitting points in future.
 
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